Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province

The city of Guangzhou [Photo/VCG]

Major social and economic indicators (2018)

Area : 7,434 sq km
Population: 14,498,000
Gross domestic product (GDP): 2.286 trillion yuan ($341.1 billion)
GDP per capita: 155,000 yuan
Value of total merchandise trade: 981.02 billion yuan
Value of export: 560.76 billion yuan
Value of import: 420.26 billion yuan
Industrial structure (% of GDP):
Primary industry (agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery): 0.98% of GDP
Secondary Industry (industrial and construction): 27.27% of GDP
Tertiary industry (service industry): 71.75% of GDP
Port cargo throughput: 613 million tons
Passenger throughput:
Visitors received: 65.33 million passenger trips
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport: 69.74 million passenger trips

Note: the above figures are provided by relevant Guangdong provincial and municipal government departments. 

Industries

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province, located in the south-central part of the province.

Guangzhou focuses on advanced manufacturing industries with three pillar industries, namely automobiles, electronics, and petrochemicals as the engine of Guangzhou's development. They are supported by six cutting-edge production bases for automobiles, ship and marine engineering equipment, nuclear power equipment, computer numerical control equipment, petrochemicals, and fine steel manufacturing. There are also more than 50 industrial areas and parks, focusing on automobiles, petrochemicals, and electronics in the east, port-related equipment manufacturing in the south, and the airport-based economy in the north.

In addition, Guangzhou also vigorously develops industries such as smart equipment and robots, next-generation information technology, energy-saving and new energy vehicles, new materials and fine chemicals, biomedicine and healthcare, energy and environmental protection equipment, rail transit equipment, high-end ship and marine engineering equipment, aviation and satellite applications, urban consumer industries, and more.

Transport

Guangzhou is a Pearl River port. It also has a good harbor for ocean freights. In addition, it is a railway junction and hub of civil aviation in southern China.

Guangzhou South Railway Station is a comprehensive transportation hub serving southern Guangdong. The station is designed to cater for about 100 million passenger trips. There are five high-speed railways (Wuhan–Guangzhou High-speed Railway, Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link, Guiyang–Guangzhou High-speed Railway, Nanning–Guangzhou High-speed Railway, and Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway) and two metro lines. Guangzhou–Foshan Circular and Foshan–Dongguan Intercity Railways are under construction.

Major development areas

National level:

Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone
Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone
Zengcheng Economic and Technological Development Zone
Guangzhou Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone
Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone
Guangzhou Export Processing Zone
Guangzhou Bonded Logistics Park
Guangzhou Nansha Bonded Port Area

Provincial level:

Baiyun Industrial Park
Yunpu Industrial Park
Huadu Economic Development Zone
Conghua Economic Development Zone

China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone:

China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone—Nansha Area of Guangzhou was formally approved by the State Council in December 2014. The planned area is about 803 square kilometers. Nansha focuses on promoting Guangdong-Hong Kong in-depth cooperation and establishing a technology and innovation transfer platform between the two places, supported by policies and measures for Hong Kong residents and enterprises, for example, preferential policies to attract Hong Kong professionals to work in Nansha.

Preferential policies for Hong Kong residents and enterprises include: the implementation of cross-border Renminbi lending in Nansha; the designation of Nansha as a pilot area for Hong Kong and Guangdong law firms operating in the form of a partnership association; and the provision of rewards by Nansha based on the tax differentials between the Mainland, the HKSAR, and the Macao SAR for Hong Kong and Macao talents with an annual taxable income of over 300, 000 yuan.

As of the end of 2017, there are 1,333 Hong Kong-invested enterprises registered in Nansha, with the total amount of investment of $30.37 billion.

Role in the Greater Bay Area

According to the development plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou is positioned as one of the four core cities of the area. It is expected to: fully leverage its leading function as a national core city and an integrated gateway city; strengthen its functions as an international commerce and industry center, as well as its role as an integrated transport hub; enhance its function as technological, educational, and cultural centers; and develop into a global metropolis.

Key words for Guangzhou in the Greater Bay Area

Development platform:

Develop Nansha of Guangzhou into a demonstration zone for comprehensive cooperation

Entrepreneurship & employment:

Encourage Hong Kong and Macao residents who are Chinese nationals to take up positions at state enterprises/agencies on the mainland in accordance with the law, and extend local entrepreneurship subsidies and support to cover eligible entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao.

Accelerate the construction of the Nansha Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao (International) Youth Entrepreneur Hub.

Establish experimental zones for entrepreneurship and employment for Hong Kong and Macao in Nansha of Guangzhou.

Leading role of growth poles:

Leverage the leading roles of the powerful combination of Guangzhou-Foshan, and expedite the integrated development of Guangzhou and Foshan.

Innovative platforms:

The Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City

The innovation and technology base in Qingsheng of Nansha

Trade liberalization:

Support the establishment of a global quality and traceability center for import and export commodities in Nansha of Guangzhou.

Information about transport , industry and Nansha Area of China (Guanggong) Pilot Free Trade Zone is courtesy of bayarea.gov.hk.